Member States

The Spain's acting PM and Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez on Tuesday launched to the parties some 300 proposals for policies in a last ditch effort to avoid snap elections. Sanchez said there were too many disagreements with far-left Unidas Podemos so a coalition government would not work. But Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias continues to believe that such a cabinet was the only option. The Socialists won April’s vote but failed to win enough seats to govern without the support of other parties. If no agreement for a government is reached by 23 September, a repeat election will be held on 10 November.

Italy's anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) asks its members to vote online whether they agree that PM Giuseppe Conte should lead a coalition government with the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), a former rival of the Movement. Voting was due to take place on Tuesday on the M5S's online platform Rousseau.

Sweden's centre-left coalition government intends to introduce a bank tax to help fund greater defence spending from 2022, Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson announced on Saturday. The Social Democrats and Greens had agreed with the Centre and Liberal Parties, which back them in Sweden's parliament, to boost defence spending by 5bn Swedish crowns ($520m) a year from 2022 to 2025, news wires reported.

The expected political earthquake at the local elections on Sunday in two provinces in Eastern Germany was avoided after Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and her Social Democrat (SPD) coalition partners managed to overcome the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) surge, news wires reported

One person was killed and at least nine others wounded on Saturday in the city of Villeurbanne near Lyon, central France, after a knife attack, a police source told Reuters. A suspect of Afghan origin carrying a knife was arrested.

Greece is to step up border patrols, move asylum-seekers from islands to the mainland and speed up deportations in an effort to deal with a resurgence in migrant flows from neighbouring Turkey, news wires reported. A government’s unit convened on Saturday for an emergency session after the arrival on Thursday of more than a dozen boats carrying around 600 migrants, the first such arrival in three years.

A legal challenge seeking to block British PM Boris Johnson’s order to suspend parliament will be heard in a Northern Irish court next week, news wires reported. At a hearing in Belfast’s High Court, a judge set 6 September for the presentation of legal argument on the interim injunction that is being sought by a rights activist seeking to have the suspension reversed.

The demands from Poland and Greece for reparations for damages from the Second World War meet in Germany to broad refusal, dpa reported. According to a survey by the opinion research institute YouGov on behalf of the German Press Agency, 68% of the citizens support the position of the Federal Government that the topic is politically and legally closed. Only 7% are in favour of negotiations with the two countries. 11% believe that an international court should decide on new compensation payments.

Britain, France and Germany will hold talks Friday on how to preserve the beleaguered Iran nuclear deal and protect shipping in the Gulf. The foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany - the three European parties to the deal - will be joined by EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini for talks on the sidelines of an EU meeting in Helsinki.

Italy took a step to avoid snap elections as the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) and the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) agreed on Wednesday to form a coalition government headed by the outgoing PM Giuseppe Conte. The 55-year-old professor was summoned to the presidential palace on Thursday by President Sergio Mattarella who gave him a mandate for new cabinet.

Revived “yellow vest” protests against the government of President Emmanuel Macron took place in France on Saturday, news wires reported. Hundreds of demonstrators faced police in a tense stand-off in the French city of Nantes. Police responded with tear gas after some protesters threw projectiles.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday that it would require a "feat of strength" in order for Germany to reach its climate goals by 2030 as planned, news wires reported. "Climate change is a challenge for humanity. In order to deal with this challenge, it will require a real feat of strength," Merkel said in the video posted on the chancellery's official website. She pointed out that passing climate legislation was necessary in order for the country to be able to achieve its goal of producing 65% of energy from renewable sources by 2030.